


Keep No Record of Wrongs

by Lannister_Debts



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 04:42:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20718269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lannister_Debts/pseuds/Lannister_Debts
Summary: It has been 11 years since Draco has seen Harry. Draco is happily married and with a son, while Harry is still wandering. When one is always leaving, and the other made his choice long ago, will they ever be happy together?Sequel to resurrectedhippo's very lovely "Someone You Loved."





	Keep No Record of Wrongs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [resurrectedhippo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/resurrectedhippo/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Someone you loved](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19135069) by [resurrectedhippo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/resurrectedhippo/pseuds/resurrectedhippo). 

> The title of the story is taken from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 : "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
> 
> The chapter title is taken from the song "Something About You" by Lucius, which was running through my mind when trying to describe Draco's feelings towards Harry.

Harry takes a slow walk up the long stairs leading up to the Modern Wizarding Museum. It’s been 11 years since he’s been back to England, and he still feels conflicted about the decision to return, if temporarily. However, Hermione Granger-Weasley is a force of nature that can be gainsaid only by an act of God, and as he is only mortal he accepts the occasion with better grace than he would have otherwise. This whole exhibition is her idea, and every single piece is already sold out. The notion of strangers peering over his work makes him want to crawl under a rock and hide under the cover of darkness but as Hermione says, “Harry, some things are too beautiful to be hidden away from the light. You have a real gift and people deserve to see this. Even more importantly you deserve to have credit for your talent.” He wishes she could understand how people stepping up to own a piece of The Boy Who Lived is exactly what made him flee England to begin with. He agrees to do this just the one time, under threat of completely losing touch with everyone, before he leaves again. He does not desire to ever have anything to do with England again. He steps through the double doors to an extraordinarily spacious room, filled with light and bursting with people. He grabs two glasses of champagne off a tray floated by a house elf. If he has to endure people pawing at him and asking him questions the least he can do is get rip-roaringly drunk.

* * *

Draco Malfoy looks around the majestic room, with scale photographs covering every wall. When he hears for the first time that Harry Potter is having a photography exhibition, one that has the critics salivating and losing their composure he must confess to being irrepressibly curious. He last spoke to Harry over a decade ago and that conversation has haunted so many of his nights since. Inadvertently (or come to think of it, perhaps directly) being the cause of Harry Potter leaving England again has left him with so many complex emotions. At the very least it causes Ron Weasley’s latent hostility towards him to come very much to the fore, and Mrs. Granger-Weasley to treat him with politeness, if accompanied by a complete refusal to look him in the eye. His divided heart, that treacherous creature, has created a tiny distance between him and Astoria, one that never interferes with his devotion or duty to her but is nonetheless insurmountable. He wishes Potter had never returned. He wishes Potter had stuck around so that the deepest, darkest desires of his heart would have sustenance, if only in his mind.

He looks at the nearest wall and is immediately struck silent. The large wingspan of a Thunderbird[1] slowly ascends over the southwestern desert in the United States, the iridescent blue, gray and pink feathers standing out in stark relief when lightning violently flashes across the sky. It almost looks as if the sky is attempting to punish the interloper, when in fact the Thunderbird is its master. Draco moves to the next photo and feels nothing short of sheer awe as a sphinx[2] prowls in the dust and sand of Egypt, slowly moving towards the person holding the camera. Its expression is fierce, devastating and yes, enigmatic. Right before the sphinx reaches the camera the loop starts again from the beginning. He moves to the next photo, which takes up the entire wall. It is a panoramic view of the night sky in Headlands, Michigan[3], with the Northern Lights colouring the ground green and pink and blue. At the dead center of the photograph, the very focal point, is the constellation Draco. His breath catches. Surely this is not a coincidence. His attention is then drawn to the next wall, around which a large crowd is congregated. He soon sees why the murmuring is getting steadily louder; the photograph is of Potter himself… very much naked. Potter’s head is shaved except for a thin strip down the middle, with what looks like strips of bark tied to his chest as he runs along the backs of over a dozen bulls placed next to each other, finally leaping off the last bull to land on the ground with a flourish, grinning[4]. The crowd around him is cheering and shouting, as an old African man embraces him.

Draco is suddenly filled with a deep sadness. How many experiences has Potter had without him? They were supposed to take on the world together. Get married, have some adorable kids, grow old together. He feels guilty for even entertaining the thought. He wouldn’t trade Scorpius for anything but the thought of what might have been is too bitter to be borne. He looks around, wondering if Potter is around. He has to be, since this is the opening night of the exhibition. He doesn’t feel proud when thinking of the maneuvering he had to do to come here tonight without Astoria but he doesn’t think he could have dealt with Potter and Astoria in the same room together when his emotions are still such a confused, roiling mess. His gaze skims the room, finally alighting on Hermione Granger-Weasley and her husband, standing in front of a tall man with a familiar unruly mop of hair. His back is encased in an attractive emerald green shirt, long legs ensconced in fitted grey trousers. His arse is still spectacular. Bastard. Potter grabs a glass of champagne from a nearby house elf and downs half of it, before swiftly striding towards the open balcony at the end of the hall.

Draco follows surreptitiously, hoping not to be intercepted by the other two-thirds of the Golden Trio, and as they move towards the Head of the Wizengamot, he slips around them and enters the balcony, drawing the curtains behind him. The noise startles Potter, who turns around and gazes at him, face unreadable.

“Draco.”

**Author's Note:**

> [1] The Thunderbird shows up in _Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them_ though I have no idea what they look like as they seem rather drab in the movie, whereas in legend they were rather awe-inspiring creatures. They are native to southwest America and are extremely fast and cause thunderstorms.
> 
> [2] The sphinx is a mythical creature that is half-human and half lion. In Greek mythology the sphinx is usually a woman and is treacherous and malicious. The Egyptian sphinx has the head of a man and is generally considered benevolent. Harry comes across the latter variety, which explains how he was able to escape with his life at the end of the encounter.
> 
> [3] Headlands, Michigan is a well-known Dark Sky Park, an area without any light pollution. It is said that if you are lucky you can see the Northern Lights between September and April at Headlands.
> 
> [4] The ritual that Harry is participating in is the bull-jumping tradition of the Hamar tribe of Ethiopia. It is a rite of passage for young men, and involves great skill. Those who succeed are honored and allowed to marry.


End file.
